Hey Insiders, Happy Wednesday and welcome back to another edition of Remote Insider! There are a lot of new faces here after we officially joined forces with Location Indie, so if this is your first Remote Insider email welcome, and I’m so excited to have you here!

Today’s email is a 4min 10sec read:

• 📝 What the hell are internet countries

• 📉 New data proves return to office is bad for productivity

• 🏡 Home coworking is on the rise

• ➕ PLUS why the new Arc browser is a complete game changer

Let’s roll straight into a topic I’ve become obsessed with the last couple of months - internet countries!

Here’s why I think you will become obsessed with them too 👇

📝 INSIDER ORIGINAL

Internet Countries: What The Hell Are They And Why Should You Care

Here's something that may shock you. The concept of a country, as we know it today, is less than 400 years old.

The modern nation-state is a result of the 1648 Treaty of Westphalia (yeah like those cool VW vans) which concluded decades of war in Europe and established joint recognition of borders among European countries.

So, if modern countries are such a novel concept, is it possible that we are at the precipe of an evolution of what it means to be a country?

That’s exactly what some experts believe, and their bet is that the borders of future countries will be drawn up on the internet, not on land.

If that sounds crazy to you then buckle up…

Because I think that not only is this prediction true, it’s a lot closer to happening than anyone thinks!

💬 FAV TWEETS

So don’t tell me managers pushing for a return to the office are doing it for productivity!

Speaking of which…

🚨 WORD ON THE WEB

📉 New data proves that the recent slump in national productivity is due to the return-to-office push

• If remote work were to blame for the drop in productivity, then the data should show a drop in productivity as soon COVID forced everyone to work remotely, and a rise in productivity post-Omicron.

• However, we see the opposite with productivity spiking after lockdowns were initiated which continued through 2021

• Productivity is decreasing due to a drop in worker morale after being forced to return to the office

🏡 Home coworking: The people creating collaborative workspaces with their friends

• People around the world are hosting friends in their houses in order to work together.

• The practice allows remote workers to learn new ways of organizing their days and introduces the opportunity to socialize

• Many home coworkers are also finding that this can improve their productivity they decide on a work & break schedule as a group.

🏛️ US White House asks federal agencies to step up workers’ return to offices

• After President Biden signed legislation ending the COVID emergency last Monday, the White House announced that it expects government agencies to return to 2019 remote work policies

• Republican representatives pressed the White House that it wasn’t doing enough and that a speedier return to in-person work was needed

• The While House said these actions were being taken in order to return proper services to citizens and reduce wait times are government facilities.

• INSIDER TAKE: If the government was truly most concerned with improving wait times it would invest in digitizing more processes. Over the last year, many return to office initiatives have been announced in the name of productivity, but are actually an attempt to force people to spend their money in downtowns that are too lazy to adjust their economic model.

🗺️ Success and failure in the 21st century will boil down to capturing mobile youth as they vote with their feet

• Renowned geopolitical strategies Parag Khana predicts that in the face of a declining birth rate, countries that succeed will be those that can properly attract young workers

• He predicts that countries will launch mass incentive programs and nomad visas to bring skilled workers to their country

• Accounting to depopulation & climate change, Khana urges business leaders to strongly advocate for mobility to be viewed as a paramount human right.

Results from Monday’s poll:

We asked you if you wanted more async work and there was no doubt about it, 100% of you guys love it and want more of it!

📆 UPCOMING EVENTS:

April 25-26: Running Remote [📍 Lisbon, Portugal] - Largest remote work conference in the world for enterprises and SMEs

May 24-28: Vivel [📍 Multiple Locations, Turkey] - networking meets music at this one-of-a-kind conference for location-independent professionals

June 16-19: Camp Indie [📍 Kent, Connecticut] - adult summer camp & conference for digital nomads & those living an unconventional life

June 25-July 2: Bansko Nomad Fest [📍 Bansko, Bulgaria] - for digital nomads, freelancers, and founders in the mountains of Bulgaria

💾 TECH

Move Over Chrome, Arc Is The Best New Browser To Come Out In The Last Decade

The internet browser hasn’t received a true update in well over 10 years. Outside of performance updates the way the current version of Chrome works isn’t all that different from the original version of Windows Explorer.

The Browser Company launched Arc to change exactly that, rethinking the browser from the ground up based on how people actually use the internet, vs prebuilt assumptions of how it should work and feel.

The result is something that every remote worker should be very excited about.

⭐️ WFA JOBS:

Looking for a job that is not only remote but that you can do from anywhere in the world? Don’t worry I’ve done the hard work for you, here are a few jobs that pay great and you can do from anywhere!

⭐️ Lead Product Designer @ Pixellu

⭐️ Software Engineer Backend @ Sticker Mule

⭐️ Senior QA Engineer @ Proxify

We’re always looking to improve and make this newsletter as beneficial and enjoyable for you as possible, so let us know, how did we do today and what can we do better in the future 👇

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That's it from us today, hope you have an amazing day, and we’ll see you again on Friday!

Cheers 🍻